Application scenario · Banfora, Burkina Faso
A six-tunnel line for Banfora.
The Banfora region produces exceptional mangoes and loses a great deal of them. The processing challenge was five interlocking ones: a harvest arriving faster than anyone could handle, unreliable and expensive grid power, export buyers demanding consistency, traditional drying consuming fuelwood unsustainably, and almost no value addition for growers.
Design setpoint · 118 °C📍 Banfora scenarioIllustrativeThe configuration
A complete, residue-fuelled line.
- 600,000 kcal cashew-shell burner with PLC common panel
- Hot-air generator — double chamber, three-pass, twin 15 HP balanced blowers
- Six tunnel chambers — 100mm rockwool, 1,500 kg batch, twelve 3 HP blowers
- Ducting — 3mm MS with volume-control dampers, 80mm rockwool, MERV-8 filtration
- Total connected load — 75.5 HP (56.323 kW)
- Segregated hygiene zones + operator & maintenance training
Projected outcomes (modelled design targets)
- Processing capacity increased substantially over prior manual methods.
- Consistent moisture at 12–14% with markedly improved colour retention.
- Significant reduction in processing energy cost through residue-fuel substitution.
- Product quality meeting the specification required for European buyers.
- New permanent positions created for processing operations.
- Reduced fuelwood consumption relative to traditional drying.
Principles we design around
- Fuel supply chains need building, not assuming. A cashew-shell burner is only as reliable as the shell supply, so we scope collection arrangements with nearby processors alongside the equipment.
- Training depth determines outcomes. The gap between a well-run and a poorly-run line is operator competence, not equipment specification — so training is part of the supply.
- Preventive maintenance must be scheduled, not intended. We hand over written schedules with named responsibility, or it does not happen.
- Local adaptation is unavoidable. Design assumptions are confirmed against a site survey before manufacture.
The figures above are modelled design targets for this configuration, not measured results — we have not yet built this line. They are confirmed against a site survey and a real fuel sample before manufacture.
Planning a mango processing line?
We’ll scope a configuration around your harvest volume, fuel supply and target markets.
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